2018 Remarkable! Season Preview – Boston Red Sox

by | Mar 12, 2018 | Baseball

 

2017 Record: 93-69 (1st in AL East – Lost in ALDS)

The Boston Red Sox were atop the AL East last season, but their path will be harder in 2018 with a much improved Yankees squad. David Price was on the shelf for a lengthy amount of time in 2017, but the Red Sox hope he is a key piece in the starting rotation this year. J.D. Martinez, one of the prized free agents this offseason, will be added to an offense that lacked home run power last season. The three B’s (Benintendi, Bradley, and Betts) in the outfield hope to improve on their 2017 campaigns. Here’s our Remarkable! season preview.

 

Starting Pitchers

 

Chris Sale
  • He had a strikeout rate of 36.2% (308/851) in the 2017 season — highest among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.6%.

  • He threw at least two strikes in his first three pitches to 74.4% (490/659) of opposing batters in 2017 — highest among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 61.6%.
  • He allowed an OPS of .355 (536 PAs) with two strikes in 2017 — 4th best among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .543.

 

Rick Porcello
  • He had a first-pitch strike rate of 67.2% (595/886) in 2017 — 5th highest among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 60.7%.
  • Opponents had a Well-Hit Avg of .365 (38/104) against Rick Porcello on the first pitch of at-bats in 2017 — 4th worst among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .241.
  • He recorded 62 of his 88 strikeouts (70.5%) with his fastball vs left-handed batters this season — 8th highest among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 43.7%.

 

Drew Pomeranz
  • He threw his curveball 37.2% of the time (259/697) when behind in the count in the 2017 season — 2nd highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 11.5%.

  • He induced opposing left-handed batters to ground into 1 double play in 37 opportunities (2.7%) in 2017 — 2nd lowest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 10.0%.
  • He allowed an OBP of .253 (40/158) with RISP in 2017 — tied for 5th best among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .342.

 

David Price
  • As a starter, he had a first-pitch strike rate of 66.8% (191/286) in the 2017 season — 9th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 60.7%.
  • Left-handed hitters have a chase rate of 40.7% (46/113) against David Price as a starter in 2017 — highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 27.7%.

 

Eduardo Rodriguez
  • As a starter, he allowed a slugging percentage of .711 (27 Total Bases / 38 ABs) on curves and sliders in the 2017 season — 2nd worst among SPs in MLB; League Avg: .372.
  • He recorded 107 of his 148 strikeouts (72.3%) with his fastball as a starter in 2017 — 8th highest among SPs in MLB; League Avg: 43.5%.

 

Relief Pitchers

 

2017 Bullpen Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .226 5th
OBP .294 4th
SLG .363 3rd
OPS .657 3rd
BB% 8.2% 7th
K% 26.6% 5th
GB% 42.9% 23rd

 

Craig Kimbrel
  • He had a strikeout rate of 49.6% (126/254) in the 2017 season — highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 23.4%.

  • Right-handed batters hit .109 against Craig Kimbrel (14-for-128) in 2017 — best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .245.
  • Opponents hit .063 against Craig Kimbrel (3-for-48) with RISP in 2017 — best among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .254.

 

Joe Kelly
  • He walked 20 of 94 left-handed batters (21.3%) in the 2017 season — 4th highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 10.1%.
  • He threw 235 fastballs at 100+ MPH in 2017 — 2nd most among RPs in MLB.
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .279 (58 Total Bases / 208 ABs) in 2017 — 21st best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .402.

 

Matt Barnes
  • He threw his curveball 41.2% of the time (119/289) on the first pitch of at-bats in the 2017 season — 7th highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 24.3%.
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .125 (4 Total Bases / 32 ABs) on inside fastballs in 2017 — 2nd best among RPs in MLB; League Avg: .438.

 

Heath Hembree
  • Left-handed hitters had a line drive rate of 38.1% (16/42) against Heath Hembree in the 2017 season — 2nd highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 21.4%.

  • He threw his slider 52.0% of the time (117/225) when behind in the count in 2017 — 7th highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 20.0%.

 

Carson Smith
  • He threw his slider 91.9% of the time (34/37) with two strikes in the 2017 season — highest among RPs in MLB; League Avg: 34.2%.
  • He allowed no extra-base hits in his last 10 innings pitched (Steve Cishek has the longest active streak at 22.0).

 

Hitters

 

2017 Offense Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .258 T-12th
OBP .329 T-11th
SLG .407 26th
OPS .736 22nd
BB% 9.0% 10th
K% 19.3% T-4th
QAB 2680 7th
wOBA .327 20th

 

J.D. Martinez
  • He slugged .820 (178 total bases in 217 ABs) at home in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .440.
  • He had 45 HRs in 432 ABs (9.6 AB/HR) in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 27.8.

  • He had a Well-Hit Avg of .290 (27/93) against LHP in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .157.

 

Mookie Betts
  • He struck out 79 times in 712 PAs (11.1%) in the 2017 season — 6th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%.

  • He made 17 non-routine plays out of 41 chances (41.5%) in 2017 — 10th best in MLB; League Avg: 22.3%.
  • He had a Well-Hit Avg of .287 (27/94) on inside fastballs in 2017 — 2nd best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .147.

 

Andrew Benintendi
  • He had an OBP of .460 (176 PAs) with RISP in the 2017 season — 11th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .344.
  • He batted just .186 (21-for-113) when leading off an inning in 2017 — 4th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .256.
  • He slugged just .286 (32 total bases in 112 ABs) against LHP in the 2017 season — 8th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .455.

 

Rafael Devers
  • He had an OPS of 1.074 (57 PAs) versus LHP in the second half of the 2017 season — 16th best in MLB; League Avg: .754.
  • He chased 38.6% pitches (27/70) when the pitcher is behind in the count in the second half of the 2017 season — League Avg: 26.9%.
  • He had a line drive rate of 28.6% (16/56) with two strikes in the second half of the 2017 season — tied for 13th highest in MLB; League Avg: 21.2%.

 

Xander Bogaerts
  • He slugged just .327 (64 total bases in 196 ABs) versus RHP in the second half of the 2017 season — 3rd worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .427.
  • He had a groundball rate of 75.3% (55/73) on low fastballs in 2017 — 2nd highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 55.4%.
  • He averaged 4.3 Pitches per Plate Appearance (536/126) versus LHP in 2017 — 14th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 3.9.

 

Dustin Pedroia
  • He  struck out 48 times in 462 PAs (10.4%) in the 2017 season — 2nd lowest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%.
  • He had an OBP of .453 (75 PAs) versus LHP in 2017 — 6th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .326.
  • He batted .354 (86-for-243) on fastballs in 2017 — 5th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .278.

 

Jackie Bradley
  • He slugged .634 (59 total bases in 93 ABs) on fastballs away in 2017 — 5th best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .409.
  • He had a line drive rate of just 10.7% (15/140) on non-fastballs in 2017 — lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 20.7%.

  • He 11 non-routine plays out of 28 chances (39.3%) in 2017 — 12th best in MLB; League Avg: 22.3%.

 

Mitch Moreland
  • Opponents used a defensive shift against Mitch Moreland on 67.5% of his plate appearances (389/576) in 2017 — 2nd highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 13.0%.

  • He had a line drive rate of 32.4% (23/71) on high fastballs in 2017 — 7th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 20.4%.
  • He produced a barreled ball in 9.8% of his ABs in 2017 (48/488) — 13th of 142 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 5.9%.

 

Hanley Ramirez
  • He had a line drive rate of 26.4% (38/144) on non-fastballs in 2017 — 12th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 20.7%.
  • He batted just .179 (19-for-106) versus LHP in 2017 — 4th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .255.
  • He came to the plate with runners in scoring position in 160 of his 553 plate appearances (28.9%) in the 2017 season — 9th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 24.6%.

 

Eduardo Nuñez
  • He batted .394 (41-for-104) with RISP in the 2017 season — best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .256.

  • He chased 39.9% of pitches out of the zone (65/163) on pitches 94 mph or greater in the 2017 season — 5th highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 25.1%.
  • He drew 18 walks in 491 PAs (3.7%) in the 2017 season — 7th worst among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 8.5%.

 

Christian Vazquez
  • He threw out 40.0% of runners attempting to steal (20/50) in the 2017 season — tied for 2nd in MLB; League Avg: 22.8%.
  • He batted .275 (47-for-171) with two strikes in 2017 — 2nd best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .176.
  • He went to the opposite field with 40.9% of balls he put into play (88/215) against RHP in the 2017 season — 5th highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 29.3%.

 

 

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